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Two premature babies die, 37 under threat at Gaza\u2019s al-Shifa Hospital | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n
Two premature babies have died at Gaza\u2019s al-Shifa Hospital after the\u00a0neonatal intensive care unit stopped working due to a lack of electricity, the facility\u2019s director has said.<\/p>\n
Thirty-seven other babies, also in the neonatal intensive care unit, are at risk of losing their lives as the hospital runs out of fuel to power their incubators, Director Mohammed Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve lost two out of 39 babies because of the power outage,\u201d Abu Salmiya, the head of the largest medical complex in Gaza, said. \u201cWe are talking about premature babies who require very intensive care.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that the two babies died because of a lack of fuel at the hospital which provides electricity to the incubators allowing for warm temperatures and a constant flow of oxygen. The hospital has been under siege and a target of fierce Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey died due to low temperatures and a lack of oxygen. We are now using primitive methods to keep them alive,\u201d the director said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have electricity until the morning. Once electricity is out, these neonates will die just like the others,\u201d Abu Salmiya warned.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Obeid, a surgeon at al-Shifa Hospital, confirmed the newborns\u2019 deaths and said an adult patient also died because there was no electricity for his ventilator.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want someone to give us the guarantee that they can evacuate the patients, because we have about 600 inpatients,\u201d he said, in an audio recording posted by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF).<\/p>\n
Ismail Yassin, the father of two premature baby girls \u2013 Mira and Dahab \u2013 at al-Shifa Hospital, said he was separated from the 33-day-old twins when he had to evacuate to southern Gaza with his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to stay behind in the incubators at al-Shifa. I cannot describe my feelings. I can\u2019t provide safety to my newborn children,\u201d he said, adding that he has appealed to the Red Cross and international organisations to help transfer his children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want some information about my daughters. I hope they are all right. I want someone to transfer the girls from al-Shifa to me and their mother in the south,\u201d he pleaded over the phone to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Witnesses at the hospital told the AFP news agency by phone that there was relentless gunfire, air raids and artillery fire which prevented people from moving even within the medical complex.<\/p>\n
According to Abu Salmiya, the hospital has tried to arrange an evacuation with the Red Cross but it remains unclear if they can help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we communicated with the Red Cross, requesting protection from them, they gave us permission to move the babies to another place within a single hour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a safe exit and safe transport with ambulances and incubators to keep them [the babies] alive. If these guarantees are offered by the Red Cross, we will do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abu Salmiya denied that the Israeli military offered to help transport the babies, despite his attempts to arrange an evacuation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI offered this to them [the Israeli army]. I offered to evacuate the babies to safe places, using ambulances, but they did not answer,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it would aid the evacuation of the babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staff of the al-Shifa hospital has requested that tomorrow [Sunday], we will help the babies in the paediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed,\u201d military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.<\/p>\n
Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera\u2019s Alan Fisher said that Hagari\u2019s supposed plan to move the babies to another hospital seemed unrealistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat puts up a number of questions. One, \u2018How would that work? How would they safely be able to move the babies when there is fighting ongoing in the area?’\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, to what hospital would they go? We are hearing from across the Gaza Strip that they are running out of essentials to treat the babies, including the premature.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that Israel was possibly acting out of concern about criticism it had received about the situation at al-Shifa Hospital and the death of two of the babies.<\/p>\n
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